Everyone wants to talk about autonomous vehicles, and for proof I.I.I. chief actuary Jim Lynch offers the AIPSO Residual Market Forum, at which he spoke in mid-April. AIPSO manages most of the automobile residual market, where highest risk drivers get insurance. Each state has a separate plan for handling risky drivers and AIPSO services most of them in...
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Homeowners Claims: A Picture of Volatility
The cost of claims paid by homeowners insurers has been increasing at twice the rate of inflation, despite significant declines in recent years, according to the 2015 edition of a report from the Insurance Research Council (IRC). Average homeowners claims payments per insured home have been increasing at an annualized rate of 5.0 percent since...
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Winter Weather and Cat Losses
With frigid temperatures and snow expected to fall around the New York City area and other parts of the United States this week, it’s a good time to review how winter storms can impact catastrophe losses. For insurers, winter storms are historically very expensive and the third-largest cause of catastrophe losses, behind only hurricanes and...
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Cavalcade of Risk #221: Birds of a Feather
As Congress meets in its “lame duck” session, we’re delighted to host Cavalcade of Risk #221, bringing you a flock of posts from around the insurance and risk-related blogosphere. In our opener, Rubber, Road and Lyft: Insurance Crisis? Hank Stern of InsureBlog takes another look at the important topic of ride-sharing. Now that Lyft’s had...
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Insurance Industry Ranked Last in Simplicity Index
In an international survey evaluating how consumers perceive the simplicity and innovation of consumer brands, general insurance companies ranked the lowest of all 25 industries surveyed (24th in the U.S.) and health insurance companies ranked 25th (also 25th in the U.S.), according to Siegel+Gale, a global strategic branding firm, which just released its fourth annual...
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Happy Halloween – With Insurance
As you prepare to welcome a throng of Frozen Elsas and Olafs to your front door, you may not be thinking about insurance but we’re here to tell you, you’re covered. The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) points out that standard homeowners and renters insurance will provide coverage for the following: • Vandalism: In the event...
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Drought, Water Management and Business Risk
Drought continues to make the headlines, with the latest U.S. Drought Monitor showing moderate to exceptional drought covers 30.6 percent of the contiguous United States. Its weekly update also shows that 82 percent of the state of California is in a state of extreme or exceptional drought. Reservoir levels in the state continued to decline,...
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Higher Satisfaction With Auto Insurance Claims Process
Despite an increase in the number of more complex physical damage claims, auto insurers are doing a better job of handling these types of claims. The just-released J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study finds that overall customer satisfaction with the auto insurance claims process has improved steadily during the past five years to...
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Earthquake Risk Rising
Some 25 years after the Loma Prieta earthquake, the San Francisco Bay area faces increased risk of a major quake, two separate studies suggest. A study published online in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America says that sections of the San Andreas fault system—the Hayward, Rodgers Creek and Green Valley faults—are nearing or...
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